Combined life-boat and marine safe.



A. HAAS.

UOMBI'ND LIFE BOAT AND MARINE SAFE.

ABPLIQATIOH FILED m0,?, 1912.

I WETNESSES raras@ onirica,

AUGS' HAS, OF GRAPEVILLE, PENNSYLVANIA.

COMBINED LIFE-BOAT AND MARINE SAFE.

i ,essere Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June i0, l 9 i3.,

Application filed December 7, 1912. Serial No. 735,404.

l] all ywiz-m tmf/.y concern Be it known that l, AUGUST l-IAAs, aresident of Grapeville, in the county of Westmoreland and State ofPennsylvania, have invented certain new and.useful Improvements inCombined Life-Boats and Marine Safes, of which the following is a4specification. One object'of this invention is to provide an'emergencylife and cargo boat for ships, with means for readily launching the boatclear of the ship whenever the latter is in danger, the emergency boatbeing of a size to accommodate passengers and crew, also the morevaluable cargo.

' A further purpose is to soconstruct the emergency boat that whenreleased from its berth in the ship it automatically launches itselfandv floats on an even keel regardless of its increasing depthmtowardits stern.

Still a further purpose is to provide improved means' for releasingtheemergency 'boat for launching after the passengers and crew have beenassembled therein.

Still a further purpose is to so construct the emergency boat as to makeit seaworthy, in the preferred construction a double keel beingprovided, the latter supporting the boat in its berth and facilitatingits launching.

.In the accompanying drawings, Fio'ure 1 is a side elevation of a shipequipped with the improvedemergency boat. Fig. 2 is an elevation oftherear portion .of the ship partly broken away to illustrate the emergencyboat berth, the boat being shown in dotted lines, and Fig. 8 is anelevation of the emergency boat after it has been launched from the mainship. Fig. e is a top plan of the rearportion of the ship and emergencyboat. Eig. 5 is a rear elevation.

Referring to the drawings, Q designates the hull cfa ship, and 3 is acavity or depression in the rear end thereof which is open through thestern, the bottom of the depression sloping rearwardly and downwardly toits open end, with 'the inclined tracks or guideways 5 at opposite sidesthereof, as shown. Cavity 3 iorms a berth for' an emergency boat 6 whichis releasably held therein, being provided on oppositeV sides fitsbottom with .the longitudinal runners 2l` which support theboat on.the gnideways The bow. 6 of boat t3 is adapt-eel to enter an odset 3 inberth 3, and mounted on how 6 is the vertically movable bolt 8 which isadapted at its lower end to engage catch 9 secured to the deck of hull2. Bolt 8 is operated by lever lO mounted on bow 6 of the emergencyboat, the arrangement being such that when the rear end of lever 10 isdepressed its front end is raised and releases bolt 8 from catch 9,thereby freeing the emergency boat so that it may launch itself bygravity from berth 3. A locking pin ll must be removed before the levercan be operated.

A characteristic of the invention is the form of emergency boat 6, thelatter being deepest at its stern and decreasing in depth toward itsbow, the inclination of the boat bottom being preferably complementarywith the inclined bott-om of the berth and at such' an angle as tomaintain the decks of the emergency boat substantially horizontal. Theemergency boat is thus adapted for varions uses while in position inberth 8, the decks thereof being available for saloon purposes, cargo,etc. ln order that boat 6 may loat with its decks level orlsubstantiallyso, its deeper stern portion should be loaded more heavily facilitatedby the form of the boat, the

than the bow. This is y deeper rear end thereof providing space forrelatively short decks l2 which may be utilized for the heaviermachinery and for fuel. Also, one or more of these lower decks may beused for valuable cargo which is thus safe-guarded and at the same timeserves as a ballast for the boat. Runners 7 constitute a double keelforthe emergency boat which insures its stability when. afloat. lt isdesigned to have boat fully equipped with propelling and steeringmachinery, etc., so that it may be navigated and be fully selfsustaining in an open sea,i

lt is vthe design'to have boat 6 of sufficient site to provide a refugefor all of the pas.- sengers and Vcrew in the event-that the ship mustbe abandoned, the more valuable cargo being stored therein and alsosaved from disaster. As beforel indicated, the space within theemergency boat may be variously utilized for saloon and other purposes,and as the boat is readily accessible from the main ship passengers andcrew may pass to and from the same without inconvenience. The positionl.ofthe emergency boat at the stern of the ship is such that it is fullyprotected excepting at its rear end where there is'practically no dangerof injury. it either side of the berth the hulll'of the ship .is ofsufficient width to fully protect the emergency boat from sidecollisions, and with the latter self-launching in the event of imminentdanger it is only necessary to assemble the passengers and crew thereonand release the boat by retracting bolt 8 when it will slide into thewater clear of the ship. ln

` v the event that the rear portion of the ship is injured by collisionor otherwisel in such manner as to prevent or interfere with thelaunching of the emergencyT boat, the latter will loat clear ot the shipif the latter sinks, it being characteristic of the invention that thereis nothing to impede upward movement of the boat in berth 3 and itspassage from the top of the latter. If in an emergency the boat isfloated in this way the clearance between the boat sides and the berthwalls, also the space at the bottom ot the boat between runners 7, admitwater in sufficient volume to quickly float the boat and prevent it frombeing drawn under by the suction caused by the sinking ship.

I claim zl. The combination of a ship formed with a berth open through awallI thereof, the berth provided with slideways sloping upwardly fromits outer end to its innerl end, an emergency boat having` its bottomsloped from end to end complementary with the sloping slideways andadapted to rest and slide on the latter, the emergency boat having decksthat are substantially level when the boat is in position in said berthand also which are substantially level when the emergency boat isa'lioat and separated from the ship.

2. The combination of a ship tormedfwith a berth open through the sternthereof, the berth provided with downwardly and outwardly slopingslideways, an emergency boat, downwardly projecting runners arrangedlongitudinally of said boat and slidable on the slideways, and means fordetaclr ably securing said boat within the berth.

8. The combination of a ship formed with a berth open at one end througha wall of the ship, downwardly and outwardly inclined slideways in theberth, an emergency boat having its greatest depth at its stern end anddecreasingin depth toward its bow, runners extending longitudinally ofsaid boat and sloping downwardly from its bow to its stern with therunners supporting the boat on said slideways, and means for removablyconfining the boat within said berth.

4f. The combination of a ship formed with a berth open at one endthrough a wall of' the ship, downwardly and outwardly inclined slidewaysin the berth, an emergency boat having its greatest dept-lr at its sternand decreasing in depth toward its bow, run- ,ners extendinglongitudinally of the boat at oppositev sides of the bottom thereof withthe runners inclined downwardly from the bow to the stern and supportingthe boat within the berth of said slideways, and means for removablyconfining the boat within the berth. y

5. The combination ot 'a ship formed with a berth open through a wall otthe ship, a sellaunchin emergency boat within the berth, a verticallymovable bolt carried by said boat with its lower end adapted to engage asocket in the ship, and a lever fulcrumed on the emergency boatandoperatively connected to said bolt with the lever accessible from theemergency boat :tor releasing the latter. i

ln 'testimony whereof aix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

AUGUST HAAS. Witnesses r J. M. Nnsrr, F. E. Gi-irriinn.

